Now we'll look back at the passage
that Brother Randy just read. The title of this message this
morning is God the Righteous Judge. God the Righteous Judge
and that title is taken from verse 23 where it speaks of Christ
that in his obedience unto death and in his suffering He committed
himself to him that judges righteously. He committed himself unto his
Father. Remember he said, Father, into
thy hands do I commend my spirit. God the righteous judge. And
we who are the children of God, we who are sinners saved by grace,
we should live in that light that no matter what we go through
in this life, No matter what injustices might be done to us,
we know that God alone judges righteously, just judgments of
God, and we leave it to His hands. And last week, I dealt with some
of these verses that Brother Randy read. Back up here in verse
13, he starts out talking about submission to civil authorities.
And I think it's good for us to remember the history here
that believers at this time were living under evil governments,
the Roman Empire. That was not a godly, I mean,
in the providence of God, it's who God put in place in his providence
and sovereignty, but the men and the women who were in charge,
they weren't godly people. Caesar was not a Christian. He
was an unbeliever, an idolater. He called himself God. But he
says in verse 13, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for
the Lord's sake. Now, as I mentioned last week,
he's talking about the ordinances of men that are proper and in
line with the commands of God for the good of society. He's
not talking about everything that man commands we're to submit
ourselves to. And I always think about in the
book of Acts where the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Sanhedrin, that they
commanded the apostles, the disciples, not to preach in Jerusalem in
the name of Jesus. And here Peter and John and them,
they went out and they preached in the name of Jesus. They were
brought before the council. And the council said, didn't
we command you not to do that? And Peter said, well, now who
are we going to obey? You or God? See, that was an
ordinance of that body, that Jewish body, that was against
God's word. And so when he talks about this,
we have to put it in the proper context and understand that we're
to submit ourselves unto those in authority, civil authority,
judges, magistrates, policemen, who are working for the good
of society, our relationship here on earth. He says, whether
it be to the king, a supreme, verse 14, governors, unto them
that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, these
offices, And these men and women who are in these offices are
sent by God, not as gospel preachers or authorities in the church,
but as civil authorities to maintain order in society. You know, I
was reading last week about somebody up in, I think it was in Minnesota
or somewhere like that, some senator or something like that,
who talked about how we don't need policemen anymore. And I
thought, are you crazy? Now, are there bad policemen?
Sure, but there are also good policemen. I'm talking about
good in their job. I'm not talking about good in
God's side. But, you know, whatever they, to get rid of all authority,
that would be chaos. Be every person for themselves.
We wouldn't have any laws. We wouldn't have any law enforcement.
And he says, and for the praise of them that do well, verse 15,
for so is the will of God that with well-doing, now the well-doing
there is talking about being a good citizen, obeying the laws
of the land. He's not talking about a right
relationship with God, he's talking about people who have a right
relationship with God in Christ by his grace, acting on this
earth as good citizens. He said, to silence the ignorance
of foolish men. So they won't have anything to
accuse you of. Now, you may be accused falsely. I know that.
I dealt with that. Verse 16, as free and not using
your liberty as a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. I
believe he's talking about people there that say, well, you know,
God's my king and I don't have to obey anything that man says.
That's not right. I don't have to obey the laws
of the land because I'm a believer and God is my king. God is our
king. Christ is king. He's our, we're not citizens
of this world. We're citizens of a heavenly
country, but we live in this world. And therefore we're responsible
to obey the just laws of the land. And so he says in verse
17, honor all. Now that says men there, he's
talking about their office. Now there are bad people in office. There are evil people in office. And you don't honor them for
their evil, but you honor the office. That's what he's talking
about. And he says, love the brotherhood. Now that's our Christian
brethren. We're to love one another. Fear
God, respect and reverence God, honor the king in his position. Verse 18, servants be subject
to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle,
but also to the froward. Be a good, most people today
would, parse that down to employ an employer, be a good worker. But a lot of people say, well,
see there, the Bible's condoning forced slavery. The Bible never
condoned slavery, forced slavery. In fact, in the book of Deuteronomy,
you know what it's called? It's called kidnapping, and it's
against the law of God. But as you know, in this society,
there were slaves. And some of them who were slaves,
like think about Onesimus in the book of Philemon. They were
converted after they were in that position. They may have
been born into that position, into a household. And then others
were slaves because of debt. You know, the law of the bond
slavery back in Exodus chapter, I think, what, 20 or 25? I can't
remember which passage. But people who got in debt would,
were indebted to somebody and they would make themselves a
servant to that person to pay off their debt. But he's saying,
he said, you serve them with all fear, not only to good and
gentle, but also to the froward. Verse 19, for this is thankworthy
if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. In other words, we're to look
upon it as obedience to God. I'm to be a good citizen. This
is the order that God has established. And it's full of sin and full
of sinners, including me, including you. It's not perfect, never
will be. Nothing on this earth is ever
gonna be perfect. The only one that ever walked this world who
was perfect in himself was Christ. And so understand that, you see. He said, that's thankworthy.
And then he says in verse 20, look at verse, he says, for what
glory is it if when you be buffeted for your faults, you shall take
it patiently, but if when you do well and suffer for it, you
take it patiently, this is acceptable or virtuous with God. What he's
saying there is it's no big thing. If you go out and break the law
and you suffer for it, that's no honor there. That's just something
happened. He said, but now if you do well,
and suffer for it. You remember Christ said, blessed
are you when you suffer for righteousness sake, for the gospel, for Christ's
sake. That's acceptable with God. Verse
21, for even here unto you were called because Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in his
steps. Christ Jesus is our supreme example of obedience. He's our supreme example. The
Bible speaks of how we as children of God should strive to be like
him. Oh, that we could obey like Christ.
Oh, that we could love like he loved. Oh, that we could forgive
like he forgave and is forgiving. Now he's not talking about efforts
aimed at making ourselves righteous in order to establish and gain
a right relationship with God here. Because that's an impossibility. By works of law, deeds of the
law, shall no flesh be justified. But he gives us in the person
of Christ a standard for which we are to strive, which we know
that we always fall short. We will never attain the perfection
of righteousness in ourselves that can only be found in Christ.
That's why we're justified, sanctified, saved, secure, based upon His
righteousness imputed to us. But He is our example. Now, it's
common for people today who, even many who claim to be Christian,
they look at Christ as nothing more than an example. Well, He
just came to show us the way, and if we would give ourselves
to that way and follow Him, we'll be all right. No, He didn't come
to show us the way. He came, He is the way. If He just showed us the way,
if He'd have just come and said, now y'all straighten up and do
right and give it your all, your efforts, we'd be condemned forever. He is the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Him. He showed
us the perfection of love. He showed us the perfection of
obedience. He showed us the perfection of
forgiveness. He showed us the perfection of
charity. Every, every grace and gift. But he didn't come here and said,
now I'm your example, follow me and if you do, you'll make
it. No, if he did, we'd be doomed forever. Somebody said, well, he's the
supreme example. He is. But he came into the world
to redeem us, to save us, to fulfill righteousness on our
behalf as our surety, our substitute, and our redeemer. That's what
he came to be. He is our salvation. Now, he is the way. He is the
way of salvation. He showed us the way, but he
is the way. So understand that. Christ Jesus
came into the world to save his people from their sins, save
sinners, his people. But in doing this work of redemption
by his obedience unto death, he gave us the supreme example
of what love and obedience and forgiveness is all about. for
which we as sinners saved by grace are to strive even in the
midst of injustices and trials, injustices done to us and trials
given to us. That's what Peter's saying here.
He's saying persevere in these things. Don't let the injustices
of this world divert you from striving to be obedient servants
of Christ. That's what he's saying. But
in giving this supreme example of our Lord, Peter, by inspiration
of the Spirit, hits on some of the most basic fundamental truths
of the gospel of God's grace. And it's summarized in committing
ourselves to him who judgeth righteously. That's God, God
the righteous judge. He says in verse 21, for even
here unto you were called, you were called to be obedient, not
to be lawbreakers, not to be insurrectionists, because Christ
also suffered for us. There's the first thing. Why
did Christ suffer? He suffered for his people. He gave his life for his sheep. He's not just my example. He
is my example now, but he's also my surety. My sins were charged
to him. My sin debt was laid to his account. And not only was he my surety
for me, he's my substitute. He took my place. He paid my
sin debt in full. Why did he do that? because of
his love for his father and his love for his people. Oh, what
love, what an example, but what a redeemer in he's my surety,
he's my substitute, he's my redeemer. I know my redeemer liveth. That's Christ, he paid my debt
in full. He is my life giver. I would not have spiritual life,
I'd be dead in trespasses and sins as I was born. Fallen in
Adam, ruined by the fall, were it not for Christ, who died and
was buried and arose again the third day. And he gives life
to his people. He's my preserver. And I think
that's a big point of what Peter is saying here. We commit ourselves
unto God, he's gonna preserve us. Now, he may not preserve
us, preserve our life here on earth. He may take us on home
to be with him, but we are preserved. We're secure in Christ. That's
why we're to persevere in the faith in obedience. That's why
we're to do these things that he commands us to do as responsible
citizens, as witnesses for his glory, preaching the gospel,
witnessing the gospel, telling sinners of Christ. So that's
the first thing he says here. Christ suffered for us. Listen, Christ didn't suffer
for himself. He didn't die for himself, he
died as a representative, as a surety, a substitute, a redeemer.
He did it for sinners. And think about this, you say,
well now, you look at people in office today and you say,
well that individual doesn't deserve my honor and my obedience.
Well, Christ suffered for me. Did I deserve that? Was I worth that in myself? The answer is no. Everything that Christ did for
me were things that I don't deserve and have not earned, yet He did
it for the glory of His Father and for the good of His people.
Think about it. He suffered. for us, a substitute. I heard a preacher say one time,
he said, he said, Christ didn't die for my sins. He died for
his own sins. Christ didn't have any sins of
his own. He died for my sins imputed to him. But look at verse
22. And I'll tell you something,
if Christ didn't die for your sins, then what's going to happen? You'll be condemned forever.
But he says in verse 22, who did no sin? You ever heard the
term impeccable? Impeccability. There's an argument
among some religions, they say, well, let's not say that Christ
could not sin, let's just say that he did not sin. Well, the
Bible teaches this. Not only did he not sin, which
it says here, he did no sin, But he could not sin. He was
impeccable. That's what that means. The perfect
God-man. Listen, God manifest in the flesh. Now, if he's God, and if he's
man without sin, without that sinful, fallen, depraved nature
that we have by our connection with Adam, if he's God-man, could
he have sinned? No. No. He did no sin. And then look
at the next line, verse 22. Neither was guile found in his
mouth. That guile is the deception and
the dishonesty that we have in us. But he didn't have that. Look over at 2 Corinthians 5.21. This poor old verse has been
hit so hard in the last 20 years. People taking one or two words
out of it. trying to prove things that just
aren't true. In verse 21, you know what Paul's
doing here. He tells, he's talking to the
church at Corinth and he's talking to believers. And he says in
verse 20, he says, now then we are ambassadors for Christ as
though God did beseech. And the word you there is in
italics, which means it wasn't in the original. manuscript,
God did beseech by us, we pray in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled
to God. And somebody says, well, why
would he tell the Corinthians to be reconciled? They were already
believers, they've already been reconciled. He's not telling
them to be reconciled to God, they've already been reconciled.
You see, the moment that God, the Holy Spirit, gives you life
and brings you to faith in Christ, that's when you are reconciled
to God. Up until that time, you're an
enemy of God. Colossians 1, enemies in our minds by wicked works,
even religious works. Now God's been reconciled to
us long before that in eternity when he chose us in Christ and
gave us to Christ. That's what he says up here in
verse 19. Look at that. To wit that God,
he talks about the ministry of reconciliation. to wit that God
was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. Now who is
the world there? Look at, not imputing their trespasses
unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
The world there is the world of God's elect to whom he does
not impute iniquity. What did he do with them? He
imputed them to Christ. And he says he's given to us
the word of reconciliation. So what's Paul doing in verses
20 and 21? He's reminding the Corinthians
of what the word of reconciliation is. It's the gospel. When we
go out and preach the gospel, we speak of how God is just to
justify the ungodly. How God has reconciled the sinners
by the blood of Jesus Christ. And that's the same as his righteousness
imputed. And so we're telling sinners,
now you be reconciled to God on that same ground. Now we know
that sinners are not gonna respond positively apart from the Holy
Spirit and the new birth, we know that. But that's not our
business. Our business is to preach it,
witness it, tell it to anybody who'll listen, isn't that right? Anybody who'll listen. And if
they find somebody and they don't wanna listen, we leave and go
to somebody who will. And here's the heart of it, verse
21. For he, that's the father, hath made him, that's the son,
hath made Christ the son, to be sin or made him sin for us. Now how was Christ made sin?
He wasn't made to be a sinner. What do we read over in 1 Peter
2? He did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth. That's even when he suffered
on the cross. There was no dishonesty in him. There was no sin contaminating
him. He had no sinful thoughts. He
had no sinful motives. He had no sinful goals. All the
time that he was justly punished by the God who judges righteously
on that cross, he in himself was perfect and righteous and
holy. Yet God judged him righteously,
how? Based on the sins of his people
accounted to him. charged it, he was made sin.
Christ who knew no sin, it says in verse 21, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him, that we might stand before
God. Having been made by God through
his grace, righteousness in Christ, his righteousness imputed to
us. And that's what Peter's talking about, verse 22. He did no sin,
neither was guile found in his mouth. Look at verse 23. He says, who when he was reviled,
he reviled not again. Now, you know, when I'm reviled,
my first impression is to revile back. But you know what? I shouldn't do that. Sometimes, I'll tell you what,
people say, well, we're no longer sinners. Well, sometimes when
I revile back, I feel good. And that's even sinful too, isn't
it? I should feel bad. And many times the Spirit of
God testifies to my spirit and brings me to that sorrow over
sin. But not Christ. When he was reviled,
he reviled not again. He didn't answer back. And he
was the only one who had a right to. When he suffered, he threatened
not. He didn't look down from the cross and say, all right,
boys, I'm going to get you sooner or later. No, he said, Father,
forgive them. They don't know what they did.
But he committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. And
that's what we're to do. Commit ourselves. Man sometimes
judges unrighteously, even in those civil courts. Isn't that
right? Not always. But God is the righteous judge
who always judges righteously. When God condemns the wicked,
he's righteous. He's just to do so. But listen
to this. When God saves a sinner, he's
also righteous and just to do so. In the condemnation of the wicked,
God is a just God. In the justification of sinners,
God is a just God and a savior. Here's the question then, if
Christ was impeccable, if he knew no sin, had no sin, was
never contaminated with our sin, and certainly never made a sinner,
and God judged him worthy of death on the cross, how can we
say that God always judges righteously? And if we are sinners, which
we are, and God judges us worthy of eternal life, how can we say
that God always judges righteously? Well, there are preachers today
who say that God cannot do that. He can't do it, they say. They'll
invoke passages like this. This is Proverbs 17, 15. They'll
say, he that justifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the just,
even they both are an abomination to the Lord. Anybody who justifies
the wicked. Now the Bible says God justifies
the ungodly in Romans four. You know that, don't you? Christ
Jesus came into the world to save what? Sinners. Christ said
the righteous need no repentance. I didn't come to call the righteous,
but sinners. So how can God justify the ungodly
or the wicked and condemn the just, meaning Christ, and not
be an abomination to himself? How can he do that? Well, this brings forth the great question
of all questions. It's asked several times in the
scripture. I think about the book of Job. Scholars say that's
the oldest book in the Bible, so maybe this is the oldest question.
How can a holy and just and righteous God remain so, remain holy and
just and righteous, and still justify the ungodly? How can
God be a just God and a Savior? When God condemned the Lord Jesus
Christ, when the Father condemned His Son on the cross, He did
not condemn, or did he not condemn the just? In fact, over in 1
Peter 3.18, you can look across the page there, listen to this
one. 1 Peter 3.18, he says, for Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust. How can God do that and not be
an abomination? And when God justifies sinners
like us, he did not justify the wicked, or did he not justify
the wicked? God justifies the ungodly. So
how can God, in the case of Christ, condemn the just, and how can
God, in the case of his elect, justify the ungodly and not be
an abomination? Now, here's the first thing to
consider, and this is what applies to the Proverbs 17, 15 passage. In man's courts, If a judge would
justify a wicked person, that's an abomination. You wanna know
why? If he were to condemn a just
person, that's an abomination. You wanna know why? I'll give
you three reasons. Let's use the first part. If
God would justify a wicked, guilty person and let him go free, that's
an abomination. Why? Three reasons. Number one,
it denies and dishonors the justice of the law. Now he may let the guy go free
or the woman go free, but justice has not been served. And that dishonors God in himself
and his righteousness and his truth. If God were to do anything
apart from justice and truth, he'd deny himself. Here's the
second reason. It fails to require due compensation
for the way that a lawbreaker dishonors God. the law and society. The wages of sin is death. And
if you let a guilty person go free, the wage goes unpaid. You
see, under God's justice, the punishment must fit the crime.
And then number three, it releases a person into society who will
in all likely remain a criminal. Now that's not, in man's courts,
it's possible for a person to, if you show him mercy, to be
turned. But a lot of times it just puts
another criminal right back into the mix. Well how can God do
this? Is there a way, here's the question,
is there a way that God can do this and not deny his law and
justice? Is there a way that God can do
this and yet fulfill the penalty of the law? Is there a way that
God can do this and release into society somebody who's been changed
in heart? And the answer is yes. It's by his grace, through
the surety, the substitute, the redeemer, who is Christ Jesus.
Because in Christ, God justifies his people in a way that honors
his law. Fulfills every jot and tittle.
For Christ is the end, the fulfillment, the finishing, the perfection
of the law for everyone that believe it. If God justifies
a sinner through Christ, the law is not dishonored. It's honored
in every jot and tittle. That's why Christ is called the
righteousness of God. And then secondly, if God justifies
a sinner through the blood of Christ, the penalty is paid.
The debt is paid. That's right. There's no debt left unpaid.
There's no penalty left unpaid. Christ, by one offering, hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. And then thirdly,
if God justifies a sinner based on the blood of Christ, at some
point in time, the Spirit's gonna come and give that sinner a new
heart in regeneration and conversion. You see that? You see, God has
found a way. Behold the glory of God. Man's
answer to the problem is always a failure. Man's answer always
dishonors God and it's a denial of the person and finished work
of Christ. But my friend, God's way is the only way. Behold the
great mystery of mysteries in the gospel of the righteousness
of God. Look back at our text and I'll
conclude with this. He says who, verse 24, He committed
himself unto him that judgeth righteously, who his own self
bear our sins in his own body. That means in his human body
he bore as a sin offering our sins. I heard a message on this
one time. The guy says, now look, he read
this. He said, who his own self bear our sins, not on his body,
but in or inside his body. That's not what this verse is
saying at all. That's a crazy way of looking
at it. There was no sin inside of Christ. If you say there was sin inside
Him, what are you talking about? Sin's not a substance. You're
saying He had evil thoughts, evil motives, evil desires. He
didn't have none of that. It means in His own body, in
the body that the Father prepared Him, He bore our sins as our
surety, our substitute and redeemer, on the tree, that's the cross,
that we being dead to sins, How are we dead to sins? Sin can
no longer condemn us. Because Christ took our condemnation,
should live under righteousness. What is it to live under righteousness?
It's to live by faith in Christ Jesus as our righteousness, by
whose stripes you were healed. Healed of those spiritual diseases
and deaths. And then verse 25, he says, for
you were as sheep going astray. That's us by nature. lost sheep,
but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls."
What's he done for us? He came to this earth, died for
our sins, was buried and rose again the third day. He's seated
at the right hand of the Father on high ever living to make intercession
for us. And he sends his spirit as the
good shepherd, the great shepherd, the chief shepherd, he sends
his spirit. to find us and bring us into
the fold of His family, of His flock. Isn't that precious? God
who judges righteously, He's our hope. He's our justifier. He's our Heavenly Father. All right, let's turn to hymn
number 350.